FairyTales and Fairy tales Stories

FairyTales and Fairy tales Stories

The history of fairytales or fairy tales stories have fantasy creatures such as fairies, faeries, fey, goblins, elves, trolls, witches, giants, and or talking animals. Enchantments and far-fetched events are also usually part of the this text. They seldom contain any references to religion, actual places, persons or events. The term "once upon a time" is used rather than an actual reference to date.

Fairytales stories, folklore, legends and myths have been passed on to children and adults since before recorded history. The origin of these fantasy tales or any of these types of oral stories is impossible to determine. This oral handing down from generation to generation came long before the written page. Tales were taught or acted out for each of the new generations. We do know that ancient cultures from all over the globe have similar stories. Ancient Egypt, c. 1300 BC has the oldest known written Fairytale.

Two different theories exist on how similarities can exist between a fairytales story from different cultures and even different continents. One theory is that a particular tale started from one point and then over hundreds of years spread across cultures and continents. The second theory is that fairytales stories are from similar experiences that humans have in most all cultures across all continents.

During the 6th century BC, Aesop a Greek was the first famous writer of the Western fairy tales. This makes fairy tales very old, even older than the many Arabian Nights magical tales from 1500 AD.

Many authors including Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queen, Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales and William Shakespeare’s many plays all include fairy tales stories in one form or another.

Préciosité is a literary style that comes from les précieuses, the witty and educated intellectual ladies of Paris. The name Fairy Tail was coined when the précieuses took up writing literary stories from their conversations and fun word games. Madame d'Aulnoy invented the term 'contes de fée', or fairy tale. The précieuses wrote their stories mainly for adults but knew that servants or women less privileged would repeat these stories to children. "Beauty and the Beast" was written by Madame Gabrielle de Villeneuve, in La jeune ameriquaine, et les contes marins in 1740. One of the précieuses, Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont rewrote "Beauty and the Beast" so as to be more suitable for children and this version, published in 1756 is the tale that is most popular today.

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The Faerie Queene Summary

The Faerie Queene tells the stories of several knights, each representing a particular virtue, on their quests for the Faerie Queene, Gloriana. Redcrosse is the knight of Holiness, and must defeat both theological error and the dragon of deception to free the parents of Una ("truth"). Guyon is the knight of Temperance, who must destroy the fleshly temptations of Acrasia's Bower of Bliss. Britomart, a woman in disguise as a male knight, represents Chastity; she must find her beloved and win his heart. Artegall, the knight of Justice, must rescue the lady Eirene from an unjust bondage. Cambell and Triamond, the knights of Friendship, must aid one another in defense of various ladies' honor. Finally, Calidore, the knight of Courtesy, must stop the Blatant Beast from spreading its slanderous venom throughout the realm.

Each quest is an allegory, and the knight given the quest represents a person's internal growth in that particular virtue. Such growth happens through various trials, some of which the knights fail, showing how personal development is a struggle requiring the aid of other forces and virtues to make it complete.

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